Heart Failure

Cardiac rehab includes exercise training, education on heart-healthy living and counseling to reduce stress. It stabilizes, slows and may even reverse the progression of heart failure.

If you’re diagnosed with heart failure, your doctor may recommend:

• Avoiding alcohol and caffeine
• Avoiding tight socks or stockings
• Being physically active
• Developing a social support system
• Eating a low-sodium, low-fat diet
• Getting appropriate vaccinations (like flu or pneumonia)
• Getting sufficient rest
• Losing weight
• Managing stress
• Monitoring blood pressure
• Quitting smoking
• Tracking daily fluid intake
• Weighing yourself daily

Depending on your needs, your doctor might prescribe:

• Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitor to lower blood pressure and decrease the heart’s workload
• Angiotensin Receptor Blocker to lower blood pressure
• Angiotensin-Receptor Neprilysin Inhibitor (ARNI) to improve artery opening and blood flow, reduce sodium retention and decrease strain on the heart
• Beta-Blockers to lower blood pressure and slow your heart rate
• Digoxin to help your heart pump better
• Diuretics to help rid the body of extra water and sodium
• Vasodilator lowers blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels, allowing them to open

Heart failure is a chronic condition that prevents your heart from pumping enough oxygenated blood to your cells. As a result, your heart’s chambers enlarge to compensate, causing it to pump faster, your blood vessels to narrow and your blood pressure to rise. Your body then directs blood to your heart and brain, away from less important organs.

There are three main types of heart failure:

Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure happens when your body can’t manage the pressure or volume in your heart or lungs, resulting in fluid buildup in your lungs.

Left-Sided Heart Failure

There are two scenarios you can experience with left-sided heart failure. In some cases, the left ventricle doesn’t contract normally, which means the heart can’t propel blood to the body (systolic failure).

Other times, the left ventricle can’t relax, so the heart can’t fill with enough blood between beats (diastolic failure).

Right-Sided Heart Failure

Often caused by left-sided heart failure, right-sided heart failure causes increased fluid pressure that circulates back to your lungs. This damages your heart’s right side and can cause blood to back up in the body’s veins, causing swelling in your legs, ankles or abdomen.

Most frequently, heart failure happens if you have:

• A current or past heart condition
• Coronary artery disease
• Had a heart attack in the past
• High blood pressure

In the early stages of heart failure, you might not notice symptoms. But as your condition progresses, you may notice:

• Buildup of fluid
• Chronic cough or wheezing
• Confusion or impaired thinking
• Dizziness
• Fast heart rate
• Fatigue or weakness
• Nausea or lack of appetite
• Shortness of breath

Tests for heart failure often focus on examining your heart’s ventricles (lower chambers) and their ability to pump enough blood to your body, as well as how they relax and fill with the right amount of blood.